The Watery Part of the World

A Novel

Michael Parker's vast and involving novel about pirates and slaves, treason and treasures, madness and devotion, takes place on a tiny island battered by storms and cut off from the world. Inspired by two little-known moments in history, it begins in 1813, when Theodosia Burr, en route to New York by ship to meet her father, Aaron Burr, disappears off the coast of North Carolina. It ends a hundred and fifty years later, when the last three inhabitants of a remote island--two elderly white women and the black man who takes care of them--are forced to leave their beloved spot of land. Parker tells an enduring story about what we'll sacrifice for love, and what we won't.

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Summary

Aaron Burr's daughter is kidnapped by pirates on her way to reveal papers which would prove his innocence. She is left to fend for herself on a North Carolina barrier island. This is her story and that of her great-great-great granddaughters.